The Defense of Princess Kairi
by Thaeonblade
Summary: Just a short essay explaining my reasons for why the character of Kairi is not as bad and useless as a character as a lot of KH fans paint her to be. One-shot SpoonyOne/Redlettermedia styled essay.


**Copyright: I own nothing and SOPA/PIPA/ACTA suck!**

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><p>Hello prestigious viewers of Kingdom Hearts Fanfiction! This is Thaeonblade sharing my thoughts with you whether you want to hear them or not.<p>

I recently browsed around the good-old internet looking for stuff to help develop my "Thrones of the Four Pillars" story, but couldn't help but notice a lot of hate forums dedicated to Kingdom Hearts.

Don't ask how this ended up as a Kingdom Hearts topic, but I wanted to just post a short essay concerning a particular character who fans just love to bash on because she exists.

**Kairi.**

Before I completely destroy any and all arguments for why this character sucks, I will make a few acknowledgements.

**1)** I'll admit that it's very annoying that she's supposed to be one of the main three characters but compared to other fleshed-out trios in the KH series, Kairi gets next to little screentime compared to Sora and Riku. Because of this, it is a bit hard to care for a character that we've barely seen.

**2)** Yeah, she does get captured and needs to be rescued a lot. Since she was four years old, she's needed someone to bail her out of danger.

**3)** Her outfit...well...com/disney/images/d/d6/KH2_, for an E-10 series, her dress is dangerously close to what you'd expect a Final Fantasy Fanservice character to wear. It's essentially a zip-up dress over a short white halter top and yes...she only has panties under that dress...don't ask how I now that...

**4)** She is a legit obstacle for Yaoi Fans.

For those who don't know, that means they pair guys with guys. Naturally, this means that they ship (as in relationship) Sora and Riku or Riku and Roxas or Sora and Vanitas or Riku and Terra and etc. Who is standing in the way of that pairing? Kairi.

Thus, many of such fans find any reason at all (occasionally even good ones) to dislike Kairi and all the girls getting in the way of their favorite slash (another word for yaoi pairings) pairings. Thus, Kairi's simply existence as the romantic interest of both of the main characters is unacceptable and demonic even, in the minds, whether consciously or unconsciously, of those who ship Yaoi.

And now for my say on the matter:

I like her.

I like Kairi, in fact she's one of my favorite characters.

**Here's Why:**

**1)** She's hot, I'm a male who likes hotness.

**2)** Despite her lack of screentime, she's actually a lot stronger of a character than most final fantasy heroines! Don't get me wrong, those ladies took on demons, monsters, dragons, spirits and a lot of other stuff so I'm not saying that they should go back to the kitchen...I just don't like some of the actions they do that makes for unnecessary plot headaches and drama.

-_**warning: incoming rant-**_

Aerith in FFVII for instance, yeah she's a sweet girl and I was sad when Sephiroth shanked her. But was it really smart of her to go to that alter by herself without so much as another heal-expert who could've saved her or...anyone else to guard her! Instead, the party had to look for her and only found her just before she died! No to the mention the whole Aerith-Cloud-Tifa love triangle.

Rinoa in FFVIII...is an idiot on the level of Terra from BBS! Not only is she a spoiled brat through most of the game but when she's constantly getting herself into stuff that throws off her team's plans...which she's supposed to be leading! At one point, she's got a perfect shot on the main bad from behind. But instead of pulling out her gun-dog limit break, she loudly declares her presence and says why she's there. Allowing the sorceress to kidnap her and use her as a hostage!

Yuna from FFX...don't get me started...

Can't say much against the girls of FFXII or FFXIII, though if I had to nitpick, it would be that Ashe from XII is a bit too picky for a princess trying to recover her kingdom from an empire that killed her family. Most resistance leaders would've thought that a kid sneaking into an imperial occupied castle without being detected would make him a good candidate for recruitment. Instead, Ashe alienates the kid who just saved her from some Archadians because he stole from "her palace." Not to mention that she just can't put down a grudge even for her kingdom's sake.

And all I could say about Lightning is that she tends to bitch out Snow a little too much...especially when the guy is going through hell and back to save her sister!

_**-rant over-**_

Kairi is not an FF heroine, she possesses strength that I wish more female characters would develop (I'm looking at you Sakura!). Why? Because she doesn't sit down and let things happen, she's proactive in helping Sora and her friends however she can. Yeah she gets captured, but its only because of circumstances that she had absolutely no control over.

The first time around, her home was destroyed and her heart was getting ripped from her body! Sora and Riku barely got out alright due to plot convenience!

The second time, it was Axel who got her, after she evaded him once before! It was a classic scene, Axel offered the girl a chance to see Sora. She missed Sora, but while Terra would've considered Axel's offer and probably get tricked into killing Pluto (this tended to happen in BBS...a lot...); Kairi told Axel off and followed Pluto! She's smart enough to trust a dog over Axel! Yeah she gets captured by him but then not only does she evade him again, she gets captured by Saix! You know...the second-in-command of Org. XIII and the guy who Axel ran away from.

Considering that Xion never managed to evade Axel even once and even with fighting back, it's an accomplishment that Kairi managed to evade Axel twice in a row!

Plus, when Sora's a heartless and she's just a little girl with spunk, she fearlessly decides to protect Sora from the other heartless before restoring him.

A year later, she jumps from a high balcony into a crowd of heartless because they were attacking the then-conflicted Sora. When Riku gives her a keyblade, she doesn't cry and say that she shouldn't be fighting. She starts swinging and takes out the heartless crowd to where even Donald Duck was impressed.

**3)** She's my favorite spanner in the works without even knowing about it! Consider Xehanort's whole scheme: He turned himself into a nobody and heartless to acquire power and find Kingdom Hearts. Using Terra's memories, he likely found out about his heir Riku and as Ansem, tempted him into causing the Islands to get destroyed. This was the perfect moment for a princess of heart to get captured and then the door to darkness would be opened and everything would get worse.

Instead however, Kairi was captured but her heart sheltered inside of Sora. Which prevented the plans of Ansem from coming true, buying Sora time to gain strength and defeat the disney villians with the keyblade and likely some light enhancement from Kairi's heart inside him.

Then, Sora kills himself to release Kairi's heart, creating Roxas and Namine, who play pivitol roles in the series later and becomes a Heartless. Who restores Sora? Useless Kairi! Which enables Sora to kill Ansem and free Riku and they go on to kill Org. XIII, with a little help from Namine, who's Kairi's nobody.

**4)** She's a keyblade wielding princess with a heart that is naturally devoid of darkness. Does nobody else see the potential? Monty Oum at least did in the preview for Dead Fantasy 6 and his take on the premise was...interesting and awesome! And come! The other two trios all had action roles and with fans growing tired of Kairi getting shoved into the kitchen, she's bound to have a playable role in Dream Drop Distance or KH 3. To mention the theme of her name, any up for a Katara-esque style water spells?

**5)** Aqua anointed her, when she was four years old. It was accidental, but come on! Aqua's a keyblade master, she had to have sensed something. But instead, she just casts a spell on Kairi to keep her safe from evil. And it works!

**6)** Hating someone for being an obstacle to your favorite pairing is immature and unfair.

If you read my profile, I have my own list of favorite ships but that doesn't mean that I'll bash a story squarely for not going with my pairing. Any writer with talent or a good idea about what they want can spin the most illogical pairing into something plausible and enjoyable to read, even if the characters never even met in canon.

But bashing a character for existing is just dumb.

So I originally wasn't even going to mention the Yaoi point because I thought it was pointless and stupid, just like I personally think Yaoi is pointless and stupid. But for education purposes, I put it up there for all of you to see and know about. Someone will disagree with my reasoning and that's okay.

Am I alone in this viewpoint? Probably, but who cares, I like Kairi. I'm not saying your an idiot for not liking her, but just understand why like with any character. Jumping on a vanwagon isn't cool folks and neither is bashing characters without any real reason.

Thaeonblade out.

PS: Thoughts anyone?

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Just a random post that I decided to share with all of you. Hope you like it and don't take any offense because this is strictly my opinion.  
><strong>


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